Norman Lear, who served on a WWII bomber before a long career in television producing, recalls Tuskegee Airmen protecting him.

Before he became the pioneering producer behind some of the most ground-breaking shows on television, Norman Lear was a gunner on a World War II bomber plane.

Protecting him in the sky, high above fields in Italy and Germany, were some of the most fearless flyers in the U.S. military — the Tuskegee Airmen, an all black squadron which maneuvered between bombers and enemy fire.

Seventy years later, Lear is having a reunion of sorts with one of the famed Tuskegee fighter pilots when the two men join up as part of Wednesday’s Veterans Day Parade.

Lear can’t say for certain that Airman Roscoe Brown ever protected him personally during any of Lear’s 52 missions. But that won't stop him from saying “thank you.”

“I feel like I've known him all my life because the Tuskegee Airmen meant so much to me,” Lear told the Daily News.

“I was always delighted to see them.”

In his 2014 book, “Even This I Get to Experience,” Lear recalled the relief he felt with the Airmen’s red-tailed planes at his side.

“From the time they rendezvoused with us — say, twenty minutes before we reached our target — they would fly so close to our wing we could see their faces,” Lear wrote.

“That’s how I knew they were black.”

Roscoe Brown was a Tuskegee Airman in World War II, part of the legendary group of pilots that Lear credits as helping him numerous times during the war.

(Lombard Mariela, Freelance NYDN)

It was Lear’s service in a racially-segregated military that helped shape his work and his politics.

Lear, 93, is responsible for such TV classics as “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times,” family-oriented shows that tackled every controversial issue, from race relations to draft dodging.

Among Lear’s fans is Brown, director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Brown, 93, was a squadron commander, and shot down two German jets.

“It was an exciting time. but that was 70 years ago,” Brown said.

“I’ve met many people we escorted in the war. It’s always a good feeling.”

Brown said his favorite “All in the Family” episode was the one in 1972 when Sammy Davis Jr. visits the bigoted Archie Bunker’s house.

“That was really history-making,” said Brown, who witnessed a sea of social change. “It came at an important time in our society.”

Dr. Roscoe Brown, Jr. is a director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the CUNY Graduate Center, and is a member of the People for the American Way, a group Lear founded in 1981.

Brown is a member of People for the American Way, the political justice and religious freedom group organization founded by Lear in 1981.

Lear’s military philosophy is simple: You don’t have to wear a uniform to be a patriot.

“I like to think I’ve shown love of country every day of my life,” Lear said.

He recalled the image of Rosie the Riveter, who represented the American women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II.

“We all pitched in. Everybody was at war.”

Lear said he is offended by people who question another’s patriotism.

“When I see people with flag pins, that doesn’t impress me at all,” Lear said. “I’m more impressed with the time in the life of our country when we talked about who we were and what we meant and the promises we made. Does someone wear a flag pin or not? Being American is about how you live your life. It’s not about wearing a badge.”